February

Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun dropped the glue in his hands. He was in the middle of pasting pictures of people he had met that week into a scrapbook he had assembled. Baekhyun figured it was a great way to keep track of his own life.

He silently watched as the boy got up from his seat and raced into the kitchen, before opening the refrigerator and searching for something that he couldn’t seem to find. After a fruitless search, Baekhyun closed the refrigerator door with a sigh.

Mere seconds later, he walked to their front door and peered out of it as if expecting to find someone standing out there. The door closed behind him with a click and Baekhyun's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol finally asked.

He watched as Baekhyun’s frown disappeared and relief slowly flooded back to his face.

“Oh? You were here all along?” he asked and hit Chanyeol playfully on the chest.

Chanyeol grinned and scooted over to give him some space on the couch.

“Whoops my bad, had my cloak of invisibility on.”

Baekhyun chuckled and shook his head.

“How old are you? Twelve?”

“Older than you,” he retorted.

“I’m more mature than you’ll ever be,” Baekhyun teased.

Without warning, Chanyeol pulled the boy into his arms which caused him to yelp in surprise. Despite all the struggling, he managed to plant a kiss on the shorter boy’s nose.

“You’re disgusting,” Baekhyun moaned as he folded his arms, a pout forming on his face.

Chanyeol pinched his cheeks.

“And you’re adorable.”

Baekhyun poked a tongue out and shifted his attention back to his scrapbook.

“Did you fill this up for me?” he asked.

“No?”

“Then who did?”

Baekhyun flipped through the pages cautiously and stared at the pictures pasted in them as if it had been the first time he had laid eyes on them.

Chanyeol couldn’t do anything but sigh.

“Okay, okay you’ve got me. I did it,” he confessed.

“See? I knew it the pasting could never have been done by me, it’s all crooked!”

Chanyeol only took things in his stride and gave him an apologetic smile. He would’ve burst out in laughter and pointed out that Baekhyun was the one that did the pasting but it didn’t seem right to do that.

Giving in had become a natural instinct of his nowadays, he didn’t want to make Baekhyun’s life any more complicated than it already was.

“I don’t remember meeting all these people though…” Baekhyun murmured as he flipped through the pages dedicated to that week’s worth of people he’d crossed paths with.

He then flipped open to the first few pages which had all of their relatives compiled in one. Baekhyun pointed at the picture of a cheery old woman and turned to look at Chanyeol excitedly.

“Hey! I recognize her she’s… your grandmother right?”

Chanyeol spared a glance and a smile crept up his face when he saw the picture of his grandmother holding up a tray of freshly baked cookies, smiling proudly at her hard work. He could almost smell the chocolate chip cookies.

“Yeah. God I miss her so much,” he replied, waves of nostalgia crashed against his heart.

Baekhyun noticed the wistful look in his eyes and placed his two hands on Chanyeol’s face.

“If you miss her so much we can always visit her. How about this Sunday? I want to catch up with her too,” he smiled.

Chanyeol froze. He gently removed Baekhyun’s hands from his face and held onto them.

“Baekhyun… Grandma she…” he hesitated, afraid that it would be too much for the boy to handle.

"She what?"

"She passed away last year."

The smile on Baekhyun’s face was gone and the familiar look of confusion filled his eyes. Then slowly, but surely, realization started dawning on his face.

“Oh…”

Then his eyes widened.

“Oh.”

He looked at Chanyeol and apologized before excusing himself to the bathroom. The latter could hear his stifled sobs echoing from the bathroom and fought hard to keep his own tears from spilling. That night Baekhyun didn’t come out.

Chanyeol awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs floating through the house. He sat up from the couch, eyes still not fully opened yet and sniffed for the origin of the smell. No sooner when he finally gained back his vision, he was greeted by the sight of Baekhyun in the kitchen dressed in a cute pink apron with penguins on them. It was no surprise to see that Chanyeol's obsession with penguins had rubbed off on him too.

The taller boy got on his feet and shuffled them towards the kitchen. In there, he came up behind Baekhyun and rested his head on his shoulders, his arms wrapped around his waist.

Baekhyun turned to give Chanyeol a warm smile.

"Good morning Yeol," he chirped, voice unusually high.

"Morning Baek," he replied in his deep morning voice.

"Breakfast's almost done wait for a while," Baekhyun said and turned his attention back to the sunny side ups sizzling in the pan.

Chanyeol watched as he busied himself with preparing breakfast. Ever since the New Year, Baekhyun had been keeping to his New Year's resolution to attend cooking lessons so that he could cook breakfast for him every day. He had to admit that the boy's cooking was terrible at first, but now he could cook an egg with absolute ease. Chanyeol wondered when he could fulfil his own New Year's resolution.

Baekhyun settled a plate in front of Chanyeol and his own plate in front of him.

"I hope they taste alright," Baekhyun murmured.

He watched nervously as Chanyeol took a bite out of the egg and then another bite and then another.

"Holy this is on point."

Baekhyun gave him a skeptical look before trying it himself.

"Wow it is good... oh my god Chanyeol I can cook! I can cook!"  He squealed, bobbing up and down in his seat. "I can open a restaurant just selling bacon and eggs and it'd be a hit!"

Chanyeol chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm and faked a pout.

"No. I only want you cooking for me not for others," he whined.

Baekhyun's eyes disappeared into half-moons.

"Then you have to promise to eat my cooking, no matter how terrible it is," he said, sticking out his pinkie finger.

"Promise?"

Chanyeol took his pinkie finger to meet Baekhyun's and the two sealed the pact.

"Promise."

They then ate their breakfast in constant chatter and Chanyeol figured that Baekhyun had probably forgotten about last night. Good.

After they were done with breakfast, Chanyeol was in charge of washing the dishes but he finished them in no time at all and joined Baekhyun on the couch to watch the boy's favourite sappy dramas.

"Chanyeol-ah."

"Hm?"

"Let's visit grandma today."

"Bae-Baekhyun-ah... Grandma's dead you know?"

Maybe Baekhyun hadn't forgotten after all.

"Of course I know that. I mean it's been a long time since we've visited your grandmother's grave and since we both have nothing on today, why not?"

"Oh."

Chanyeol got a little taken aback. Sometimes it was tiring to keep up with Baekhyun's unpredictable memory. But what could he do? He loved him.

"Yeah that sounds great," Chanyeol agreed and gave him a peck on the lips. "You're so thoughtful; no wonder Grandma preferred you over me."

The shorter boy only laughed and denied it.

It was dusk when they arrived outside the cemetery. The sun had begun setting, casting a warm glow on the rows and rows of tombstones. The couple walked hand in hand through the leaf ridden trail and stopped in front of a familiar cherry blossom tree. Under it was Chanyeol's grandmother's final resting place.

Baekhyun bent down and swept away the leaves on the stone.

"Your favourite grandson's here, grandma. You still remember Baekhyun right?" he said.

"I hope she does remember me… wherever she is now," Baekhyun said, his voice echoed throughout the deserted cemetery. "I really liked her."

"I know she will. Grandma always pressured me into marrying you. 'He's a catch, don't let him slip by' she'd say," Chanyeol recounted.

"Are you going to then?"

Baekhyun looked up at him hopefully.

"I'll marry you Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, “but… just not now."

"I guess I'll have to wait then."

Chanyeol smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Yes, wait for me."

Baekhyun grinned and got up from his knees to plunge himself into Chanyeol's arms.

"Just don't make me wait too long," he murmured.

Chanyeol smiled and rested his face onto the boy’s hair. The smell of strawberries wafted through his nose.

"Don't worry I won't."

They stayed in each other's arms for the longest time, the cherry blossoms falling around them made the atmosphere even more dreamlike. Chanyeol felt Baekhyun stir in his arms and slowly released him.

He watched as the boy rubbed his eyes as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Hm? Why are we in a cemetery, Chanyeol?"

The taller boy's eyes widened but he soon got adjusted to Baekhyun's sudden change in memory.

"We were visiting Grandma, Baek," Chanyeol spoke as if to a child.

"Oh? Where is she then?" Baekhyun prodded, looking around for any signs of her.

Chanyeol breathed in slowly and exhaled just as slowly. Pointing at the stone in from of them, he gave Baekhyun a sad smile and prayed fervently that his memory wouldn’t fail him now.

"Grandma's right here."

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol and then to the stone. He stepped forward and got on his knees to get a closer look on the name engraved on it.

"Oh..." his eyes widened in realization, "I'm sorry Yeol I didn't mean to hurt you."

The heavy weight in his chest that he had been carrying in the past seconds vanished instantly. Chanyeol heaved a sigh of relief. 

"It's okay. I'm fine, Baek," he said.

Baekhyun gazed at the stone and subconsciously traced his fingers on it.

"I hope she remembers me, Chanyeol. Because I don't think I'll be able to remember her soon," he said, fingers going in circles. "And I feel so guilty."

"Baek..."

He then watched the shorter boy sit up and give a full body bow in front of his grandmother's stone.

"Thank you, Grandma Park. Thank you for raising Chanyeol to be a great person and great boyfriend, thank you for thinking so well of me, and..."

Chanyeol bit down on his lip to stop himself from shedding any tears, not in front of Baekhyun at least.

"...forgive me as I won't be able to remember all these things soon."

Baekhyun gave one final bow and got up to find Chanyeol looking absolutely miserable.

"I'll remember all these things for you."

Baekhyun looked at him confusedly. 

"It's okay if you won't be able to remember anything... because I'll remember it all for you," Chanyeol said, clenching his fists. "Everything's gonna work out, Baek. Everything will be fine."

These words, he figured, comforted himself more than it did for Baekhyun.

"At least I hope it will... I really hope it will..." he breathed.

Baekhyun stayed silent, he knew there was no comforting Chanyeol for the inevitable.

"Let's get going," Chanyeol finally said, and grabbed Baekhyun's hand.

The two of them strolled out of the cemetery and Chanyeol noticed that there were couples everywhere and shops were adorned in pink. It then struck him that it was Valentine's Day.

That explained why Baekhyun could only look on in envy when girls walked past them with a big bouquet of flowers or flaunting a new ring on their finger. He knew Baekhyun wanted what they had; he was just too shy to ask.

He opened his wallet and was disheartened to see only a few tens and fives in it -barely enough to get anything decent for his boyfriend. Sighing, he slipped his wallet back into his pocket and carried on walking.

They passed by a park and Baekhyun suggested resting a bit there to which Chanyeol obliged. Picking a spot under an oak tree, they sat under its leaves and watched the sunset glow slowly fade away, only to be replaced by the stars.

Chanyeol fiddled with the flowers on the ground. Twisting and turning them into shapes, soon the ground beside him was littered with his little creations. Baekhyun picked one up and inspected it curiously.

“What is this supposed to be?” he asked.

He then let it slide across his wrist, the flowers rested beautifully on his pale skin.

“A bracelet?” he continued.

An idea struck Chanyeol.

"I'll be back in a bit," he said.

He went round the park to find the prettiest flower there was, leaving Baekhyun sitting under the oak tree, confused. After a short while, he came back with a stalk of baby’s breath. With careful hands, he turned it into what he had imagined in his mind.

He then motioned for Baekhyun to put out a hand.

“Mind lending me a hand for a while? I mean literally.”

Baekhyun held out a hand wordlessly and watched on in curiosity as Chanyeol fit the ring he had made out of baby’s breaths through his ring finger.

“It’s a perfect fit,” Chanyeol commented.

The shorter boy held his hand out under the light of the stars, admiring his boyfriend’s work.

“I’m guessing this is my Valentine’s Day gift?”

Chanyeol nodded and scratched his head sheepishly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you ninety-nine roses or a diamond ring, you know I can’t afford those at the moment. But I’ll give you those one day… I promise,” Chanyeol said. “That’s why I’d like to give you this ring I made myself -to reserve that finger for a real diamond ring.”

Chanyeol blushed at his own words and gave Baekhyun a toothy grin.

“Baekhyun I’d like to reserve you for myself. Will you give me the permission to do that?”

Baekhyun looked at his finger and then to Chanyeol.

“What do you think?” he teased.

“Is it a yes?” Chanyeol asked hopefully.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

With that, Baekhyun pounced onto an unsuspecting Chanyeol causing the both of them to fall onto a bed of flowers. And in that moment, it was as if Chanyeol had finally succeeded in stopping time. All their worries, cares, concerns were gone. They only knew that they had each other and that was enough for them. Though the truth was nothing lasts forever, but for Baekhyun, Chanyeol would try to make anything happen.

Somewhere, somehow he would find their forever.

a/n: Chapter 2 is out! Would really like to hear what you guys think of the story so far and where you'd like to see the story go. Feedback is much appreciated! :) Till the next chapter, goodbye!